NIM to govt: Good needed to check social ills

The Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) has called on the government at both state and federal levels to place a premium on delivering good governance to check youth restiveness and social ills.

According to the institute, good governance centred on availing the populace of the dividends of democracy, especially basic amenities, is the only way to retain power and stave off the preponderance of coup d’états fast gaining ground in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years.

“No matter how good government policies aimed at turning around the economy look on paper, if they are not implemented to the benefit of the citizenry, they will count for nothing. This should be the mindset and focus of this administration,” Christiana Atako, president and chairman of the council, Nigerian Institute of Management, said recently at the 2023 annual national management conference held in Lagos.

The theme of the conference was ‘Managing Nigeria’s path to sustainable economic growth and prosperity: The challenges before the new national leadership’.

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The institute in unveiling its journal of management professionals, a research journal on management in Nigeria, urged Nigerians to join hands with the government by supporting good economic policies. According to Atako, Nigeria can overcome the effects of the recent subsidy removal through budgeting, increasing productivity, reducing consumption, embracing local goods, and seeking alternative transportation means.

However, she also said that while the masses are tightening their belt as a result of ongoing economic policies, it is only moral and rational that those in government make conscious efforts to reduce the cost of governance.

“Frivolous and avoidable expenses must be shunned at all costs to show equal sacrifice and commitment to resuscitate the economy on both sides. This is one of the many ways the government can keep operational costs down and have more money for increased capital expenditure,” she said.

Also speaking, George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), said: “By choosing the theme as the focus of this year’s conference, the institute has further demonstrated that it is committed to supporting the Federal Government in achieving its drive to reposition and turn around the nation’s economy and set it on the path of real development and progress.”

Represented by his senior special assistant, Dapo Oyedemi, the SGF also urged other professional bodies, corporate organisations and well-meaning Nigerians to lend their support to the administration. According to him, synergising with the government will help build a Nigeria of our collective dreams.